Bill Text

Safe Health Standards for Children Act

A bill to provide for the protection of children’s health through establishment of a reasonable margin of safety.

Summary – When establishing or revising health standards, this bill requires the appropriate state agency to take into account peer-reviewed, scientifically acceptable information. This bill further requires the agency to include a reasonable margin of safety in setting standards to protect the health of infants, children, and adults by considering several specific health factors. This bill also provides the appropriate state agency with the authority to compel information concerning relevant substances.

The people of <insert your state’s name here>, represented in the state Legislature, do enact as follows:

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act shall be known and cited as the “Safe Health Standards for Children Act.”

Section 2. Intent.

It is the intent of the state Legislature to require that the state’s air quality and drinking water standards be reviewed to determine if they adequately protect the health of infants and children, and that these standards be revised if they are determined to be inadequate.

Section 3. Findings.

The state Legislature finds that:

(A) Children’s developing organs and tissues are more susceptible to damage from most toxic substances than are adult organs and tissues;

(B) Children have a higher ventilation rate than adults relative to body weight and lung surface area, resulting in a greater dose of pollution delivered to children’s lungs; and

(C) Setting health standards based on a reasonable margin of safety for children will better protect the health of infants, children, and all others in our state.

Section 4. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this Act shall have the meanings given to them in this section:

(A) “Department” means <insert the applicable state agency overseeing the health of children>.

(B) “Secretary” means the head of the <insert the applicable state agency overseeing the health of children>.

(C) For purposes of this Act, “peer-reviewed” means a scientifically based review conducted by individuals with substantial knowledge and experience in toxicology, health risk assessment, or other related fields as determined by the Secretary.

Section 5. Children’s Health Standards.

In establishing, modifying, reviewing, or revoking drinking water or air quality standards, the Secretary shall:

(A) Assess the risk of a potential contaminant substance based on available information concerning:

(1) Exposure patterns among infants and children that are likely to result in disproportionately high exposure to a substance among infants and children in comparison to the general population;

(2) Special susceptibility of infants and children to a potential substance, including neurological differences between infants and children and adults, and effects of in utero exposure to potential contaminants; and

(3) The cumulative effects on infants and children of such substances that have a common mechanism of toxicity based on the above risk assessment;

(B) Authorize the Department to conduct surveys to document exposure to potential contaminant substances among infants and children, under the direction of the State Public Health Department or other qualified agency;

(C) Ensure that there is a reasonable certainty that no harm will result to infants and children from aggregate exposure to a substance;

(D) If the Secretary determines that there is insufficient data to assess the risk of a potential contaminant substance with regard to infants and children, use an adequate margin of safety, as referenced in Section 7 (B), to assure a reasonable certainty of no harm; and

(E) Publish a specific determination regarding the safety of the substance for infants and children.

Section 6. Factors.

In establishing, modifying, reviewing, or revoking standards for a potential contaminant substance, the Secretary shall consider, among other relevant factors:

(A) The validity, completeness, and reliability of the available data from studies of the substance;

(B) The nature of any toxic effect shown to be caused by the substance in such studies;

(C) Available information concerning the relationship of the results of such studies to human risk, especially children;

(D) Available information concerning the behavioral patterns of consumers and other identifiable subgroups of people, including children;

(E) Available information concerning the cumulative effects of such substances and other substances that have a common mechanism of toxicity;

(F) Available information concerning the aggregate exposure levels of people, especially children, to the substance including dietary exposure and exposure from other sources;

(G) Available information concerning the variability of the sensitivities of identifiable subgroups of people, especially children;

(H) Such information as the Secretary may require on whether the substance may have an effect in humans that is similar to, or antagonistic of, an effect produced by a naturally occurring estrogen or other hormone; and

(I) Safety factors which, in the opinion of experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate the safety of substances, are generally recognized as appropriate for the use of experimentation data.

Section 7. Margin of Safety.

(A) In the case of threshold effects, for purposes of Section 5 (B), an additional tenfold margin of safety for a substance or other sources of exposure shall be applied for infants and children to take into account potential pre- and post-natal toxicity and completeness of the data with respect to exposure and toxicity to that population.

(B) Notwithstanding such requirement for an additional margin of safety, the Secretary may use a different margin of safety for the substance only if, on the basis of reliable data, there is assurance that the new margin of safety is safe to adequately protect all citizens including infants and children. Such different standard must be promulgated in compliance with customary administrative state rule-making processes.

Section 8. Additional Standards.

Nothing in this section shall restrict the authority of the Secretary to consider additional information in establishing safe water and air quality standards or to adopt air and water quality standards designed to protect vulnerable populations other than infants and children.

Section 9. Reporting Requirements.

The Department shall prepare a report that will identify drinking water and air quality standards under the conditions of this Act, and the report shall be filed with the Secretary of State, the clerk of the Senate, and the clerk of the <House or Senate> by January 1, <one year from the effective date>. The report shall thereafter be updated on a bi-annual basis to reflect any improved data on potential contaminants. Public notice of the availability of the report, and supporting documentation shall be provided by the Department and such materials shall be made available for public review.

The bi-annual update of the report to be filed shall be accompanied by the recommendation of the Department concerning how the reporting process on drinking water and air quality standards could be improved to more effectively identify and address the health risks.

Section 10. Department Authority.

(A) The Department shall adopt such regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(B) The Department may request, and any person or entity shall provide, information on any substance that is or may be under evaluation and that is manufactured, distributed, emitted, or used by the person or entity of whom the request is made, in order to carry out its responsibilities pursuant to this chapter.

Section 11. Effective Date.

This Act shall take effect on <insert date here>.

Section 12. Severability.

If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act, which can be given effect without regard to the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Act are severable.